It’s cool seeing how different people have altered the story and how they tell it differently.
Epified Mahabharata. Image source.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Reading Notes: Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution (videos)
I liked watching the epified episode videos because even thought the drawings were simple it helped me visualize. just seeing the embodiment of what is going on in the plot of the story really helped me to grasp and follow the story more. it kept me interested.
It’s cool seeing how different people have altered the story and how they tell it differently.
It’s cool seeing how different people have altered the story and how they tell it differently.
Monday, February 27, 2017
The In-Crowd
Ella had just moved to Jensen Beach, Florida. Her father was beginning a new job, and she was now hundreds of miles from any friend she ever had. Summer’s end was nearing, and she was about to begin the 9th grade at a new school – great.
The first day of school was here, and Ella was so nervous. She was astonished as her mom pulled up to the front of the building to drop her off. “Mom, I didn’t know it was going to be THIS big…” Her mother sweetly replied, “Sweetie, you can do this! You’re a rockstar.”
"I am a rock star, I am a rock star, I am a rock star," Ella kept repeating to herself in her mind.
She went to her classes, and even made some new friends to sit with at lunch. This was easier than she thought it would be. It wasn’t until the very end of her first day when Ella saw them – the popular girls. She gawked until one of her new friends interjected, “That’s Mandy Mason. She’s the most popular and powerful girl in this school. She’s Senior Class President, she started a ton of the clubs on campus, she’s an honor student, plus she’s captain of the cheer squad.”
Ella went home and told her parents all about her successful first day. She was happy with how it went, and was even a little bit excited for day two. She wanted to be friends with Mandy Mason.
Ella woke up and headed to school with her mom. She walked into school only to be greeted by the school bully.
“Hey new girl. Did you get that outfit from your grandma?” All the others laughed.
Ella began walking away when she saw her. Mandy Mason was walking right up to her.
“Hey girl, don’t worry about them. If you hang around me for a while, they’ll be worshiping you. Come with me.”
“O- Okay… My name is E-“
“Ella Fischer. I know. You’re in grade 9, you’re from California, and you’re a straight A student.”
“H-how do you know all that?” How did she know all that?
“I know everything about the new students! Especially the impressive ones. Now here we are. This is my locker. We meet here after every class period. Can you do that?”
“We?” asked Ella.
Mandy replied, “Our group! Keep up, Ella. Before school, we meet in the girl’s room. Before lunch, we meet by the water fountain. And we do homework together every night.”
Overwhelmed, Ella said, “Great! I’ll see you at the water fountain for lunch!”
“Fast learner, good work, El,” Mandy said, pleased.
And so it began – her training. Before Ella even knew it, she had gotten in with the cool crowd. It’s like everything she had wished for had come true! Immediately after her encounter with Mandy Mason, Ella was treated completely different. All the senior boys suddenly wanted to talk to her, girls wanted to be her friend, the cheer squad put her on the team. Following Mandy’s rules seemed like a fair price to pay to be popular. But would it all be worth it?
The first day of school was here, and Ella was so nervous. She was astonished as her mom pulled up to the front of the building to drop her off. “Mom, I didn’t know it was going to be THIS big…” Her mother sweetly replied, “Sweetie, you can do this! You’re a rockstar.”
"I am a rock star, I am a rock star, I am a rock star," Ella kept repeating to herself in her mind.
She went to her classes, and even made some new friends to sit with at lunch. This was easier than she thought it would be. It wasn’t until the very end of her first day when Ella saw them – the popular girls. She gawked until one of her new friends interjected, “That’s Mandy Mason. She’s the most popular and powerful girl in this school. She’s Senior Class President, she started a ton of the clubs on campus, she’s an honor student, plus she’s captain of the cheer squad.”
Ella went home and told her parents all about her successful first day. She was happy with how it went, and was even a little bit excited for day two. She wanted to be friends with Mandy Mason.
Ella woke up and headed to school with her mom. She walked into school only to be greeted by the school bully.
“Hey new girl. Did you get that outfit from your grandma?” All the others laughed.
Ella began walking away when she saw her. Mandy Mason was walking right up to her.
“Hey girl, don’t worry about them. If you hang around me for a while, they’ll be worshiping you. Come with me.”
“O- Okay… My name is E-“
“Ella Fischer. I know. You’re in grade 9, you’re from California, and you’re a straight A student.”
“H-how do you know all that?” How did she know all that?
“I know everything about the new students! Especially the impressive ones. Now here we are. This is my locker. We meet here after every class period. Can you do that?”
“We?” asked Ella.
Mandy replied, “Our group! Keep up, Ella. Before school, we meet in the girl’s room. Before lunch, we meet by the water fountain. And we do homework together every night.”
Overwhelmed, Ella said, “Great! I’ll see you at the water fountain for lunch!”
“Fast learner, good work, El,” Mandy said, pleased.
And so it began – her training. Before Ella even knew it, she had gotten in with the cool crowd. It’s like everything she had wished for had come true! Immediately after her encounter with Mandy Mason, Ella was treated completely different. All the senior boys suddenly wanted to talk to her, girls wanted to be her friend, the cheer squad put her on the team. Following Mandy’s rules seemed like a fair price to pay to be popular. But would it all be worth it?
Author's Note
This story is derived from the story of Ekalavya. Ekalavya is a boy who admired and looked up to Drona his whole life. The young boy so badly desired to be Drona's pupil, and was willing to do anything for it. I modernized this story in the context of a high school in Florida. A typical story about a girl moving to a new school, wanting to be popular and fit in with the 'cool crowd.' It's a less dramatic and extreme scenario than in the PDE Mahabharata, but the same concept nonetheless. Ekalavya was truly willing to do anything to be Drona's pupil. Dona once asked Ekalavya for the thumb off his right hand, and Ekalavya did as he was told. In my story, Ella is eager to fit in and follow the lead of Mandy, but she would never cut her thumb off for her. We can all relate to wanting to fit in at some point in our lives, so I thought this would be cool to write about. And although this classifies as a "typical story" and maybe even a cliche, I think the topic is still relevant and completely relatable!! I decided to use a photo from Mean Girls, a movie that I am sure most of you reading have at least heard of. There is not much meanness happening in my story, but it's the same concept of a new girl getting in with a certain group of people! I was not even thinking about Mean Girls as I was writing the story, but as soon I read it over again, I totally saw it.
Bibliography
PDE Mahabharata. Link to reading.
Mean Girls. Image Source: YouTube.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Growth Mindset: The Sleeper
I watched a Growth Mindset video titled "The Sleeper".
I actually teared up while watching it. It was about a professor who taught this class and every class period the same kid would always be sleeping. He talked about how sometimes it made him so angry like "how dare he". Other times he said he felt sad like "nothing I say matters". Then one day the professor asked the kid to go to lunch with him and talk. He asked the kid why he was always sleeping the the kid told him it was because of video games. But the professor learned that not only did he play video games, he invented them and created them.
He thought it was crazy that these intelligent, diligent, hard-working students are seen in a negative light by school systems. So he put the kid in new classes, where he could design and create and do all the things he was so good at without having the lectures. He worked so hard on every single project and succeeded greatly.
That professor never looked at "sleepers" the same way.
I really liked this video. It just proves that you really don't know someone until you take the time to try. All of that student's professors thought he was lazy and maybe even dumb because of the grades he got. But they had no idea how smart and driven he really was... Just not on the things they wanted him to be.
Although in school it is important to learn to grow in more areas than just the ones you succeed in, it is also important to realize that everyone succeeds at different things in life.
I actually teared up while watching it. It was about a professor who taught this class and every class period the same kid would always be sleeping. He talked about how sometimes it made him so angry like "how dare he". Other times he said he felt sad like "nothing I say matters". Then one day the professor asked the kid to go to lunch with him and talk. He asked the kid why he was always sleeping the the kid told him it was because of video games. But the professor learned that not only did he play video games, he invented them and created them.
He thought it was crazy that these intelligent, diligent, hard-working students are seen in a negative light by school systems. So he put the kid in new classes, where he could design and create and do all the things he was so good at without having the lectures. He worked so hard on every single project and succeeded greatly.
That professor never looked at "sleepers" the same way.
I really liked this video. It just proves that you really don't know someone until you take the time to try. All of that student's professors thought he was lazy and maybe even dumb because of the grades he got. But they had no idea how smart and driven he really was... Just not on the things they wanted him to be.
Although in school it is important to learn to grow in more areas than just the ones you succeed in, it is also important to realize that everyone succeeds at different things in life.
Sleeping in Class. Image Source: USnews.
Tech Tip: Canvas Mobile App
I honestly had no idea that there was even an app for Canvas! I downloaded it and logging on was quick and easy. I will for sure be using it on my phone because a lot of times I will get an email that an assignment has been graded, then it's a hassle to log onto canvas through the internet. This tip was very helpful!!
Oh and I have an iPhone!
Oh and I have an iPhone!
Story Planning: The Time Has Come
Okay, so I have decided that I want to write a story mirroring the story of Bhishma and his death.
There will be some major differences -
I haven’t decided characters exactly, but I will make it a family or group of friends in the situation. Either a grandmother or a mother or father or brother or friend — someone will be suffering from cancer (type undecided as well). I have in my mind that the doctor has previously told the family that said family member would have only lived a year since they were diagnosed, but it has been 5 years.
Obviously another difference is that this person will not have the choice of when to die like Bhishma did.
But it will be similar in that the individual is ready to go. They are prepared and ready to be in Heaven with God.
It will be similar in that they will be giving advice to their family/friends. (probably have to be a parent or grandparent just to ensure sound and wise advice. a very young adult would not have all the knowledge that an adult would have obviously. and thats a main point of the story is the departure and the valuable things taken from it by the person’s loved ones)
obviously, i do not want to focus on the actual death of the person at all, but I will probably end it with the peaceful passing of the individual, and how everyone felt about it. (which will be sorrowful, but also peaceful and content knowing what an amazing life he/she lived)
My version of the story will be more emotional and connected than the original. I wanted to do a planning post instead of the actual story, because I really want to work hard on this one and make it good. I will probably start working on it this weekend. Usually I dislike writing, but I am actually excited to see what I can do with this!
Bibliography
PDE Mahabharata. Link to reading.
Family. Image Source: TheOdysseyOnline.
I chose this picture because I want my story to be more about love and cherishing family, then focusing on the negative things in life.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata part D
Bibliography
PDE Mahabharata. Link to reading.
arjuna son dies *
bhima’s son dies !!! *
drona’s head cut off, could do something with that. not literal,
i like the description in the scene where Arjuna and Karna meet …
i could make that into a situation where a friend is telling a friend not to do something because there will be consequences.
for some reason when i was reading the part where Duryodhana can stay under water for as long as he wants, I thought of that show I watched as a kid called H2O where the three girls turn into mermaids when they touch water ? lol. i could have fun writing something like that
Ashwatthaman killing the Pandavas while they sleep.. this story is so vengeful and evil kinda
consequences the jewel was taken from ashwatthaman
Bhishma telling everyone how to rule when he dies, mother or father or grandmother or grandfather dying of a disease or cancer, giving their family members advice etc.
not a fan of horse sacrifice
I am pretty sure this is really embarrassing, but I had to look up what a mongoose was…
i could change the animal and the story he told and make it more fun and cute *
the ganges river turned ouija board???????
everyone is dying literally everyone
i really do not like all the bad vibes and evil spirits that are present before Krishna dies, and i don’t think i would be very good at writing a story from that
PDE Mahabharata. Link to reading.
arjuna son dies *
bhima’s son dies !!! *
drona’s head cut off, could do something with that. not literal,
i like the description in the scene where Arjuna and Karna meet …
i could make that into a situation where a friend is telling a friend not to do something because there will be consequences.
for some reason when i was reading the part where Duryodhana can stay under water for as long as he wants, I thought of that show I watched as a kid called H2O where the three girls turn into mermaids when they touch water ? lol. i could have fun writing something like that
Ashwatthaman killing the Pandavas while they sleep.. this story is so vengeful and evil kinda
consequences the jewel was taken from ashwatthaman
Bhishma telling everyone how to rule when he dies, mother or father or grandmother or grandfather dying of a disease or cancer, giving their family members advice etc.
not a fan of horse sacrifice
I am pretty sure this is really embarrassing, but I had to look up what a mongoose was…
i could change the animal and the story he told and make it more fun and cute *
the ganges river turned ouija board???????
everyone is dying literally everyone
i really do not like all the bad vibes and evil spirits that are present before Krishna dies, and i don’t think i would be very good at writing a story from that
Duryodhana in the lake. Image source: Blogspot.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Part C
Bibliography
pandanvas in exile
krishna’s visit - debate, modernize into a church setting or family convo
Arjuna in Swarga - journey in new place beautiful, learning, growing,
the pandavas in the himalayas and arjuna meets back with them after his own journey, group of friends lost a friend to something else but found their way back ..?
bhima and hanuman meeting, like long lost brothers or cousins or twins or idk people with some strange unknown connection, modern view
they’re all drinking the water and all dying like what. i could twist this into modern day like when people see someone making a mistake and even after that they still make the same mistake. i could think up multiple situations to fit that
“the voice”
the scene with Draupadi is almost raped is an intense one, but I’m not sure i could write a story about rape, and in this situation, i don’t know what else I would do to change it - i don’t think i would want to change it. so ** no
krishna trying to make peace instead of war when war is inevitable - could modernize, business setting, school, family
arjuna and krishna relationship, change dynamic of it like best friends or siblings or something
krishna and karna !!!!!! ah !
krishna encouraging arjuna to fight ****** would be fun to modernize ** could do a lot with it
PDE Mahabharata. Link to reading.
pandanvas in exile
krishna’s visit - debate, modernize into a church setting or family convo
Arjuna in Swarga - journey in new place beautiful, learning, growing,
the pandavas in the himalayas and arjuna meets back with them after his own journey, group of friends lost a friend to something else but found their way back ..?
bhima and hanuman meeting, like long lost brothers or cousins or twins or idk people with some strange unknown connection, modern view
they’re all drinking the water and all dying like what. i could twist this into modern day like when people see someone making a mistake and even after that they still make the same mistake. i could think up multiple situations to fit that
“the voice”
the scene with Draupadi is almost raped is an intense one, but I’m not sure i could write a story about rape, and in this situation, i don’t know what else I would do to change it - i don’t think i would want to change it. so ** no
krishna trying to make peace instead of war when war is inevitable - could modernize, business setting, school, family
arjuna and krishna relationship, change dynamic of it like best friends or siblings or something
krishna and karna !!!!!! ah !
krishna encouraging arjuna to fight ****** would be fun to modernize ** could do a lot with it
Arjuna and Krishna. Image Source: Blogspot.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)